Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair for the remainder of the 2012/13 municipal year.

RESOLVED –

that Councillor Rabi Martins be elected Chair for the remainder of the 2012/13 municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Joynes.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting on 6 March 2012 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting on 6 March 2012 were submitted and signed.

A presentation will be given about the Community Safety Partnership. The Chair and members of the partnership will be present to answer any questions.

Chief Inspector Caveney of Hertfordshire Constabulary will also be in attendance and will discuss his priorities for policing the borough with the Task Group.

The briefing is attached.

The Chair reminded the members that the task group’s role was to review the effectiveness of the partners’ strategies and initiatives in tackling community safety issues and added that it was not appropriate to raise individual operational cases.

The Chair invited everyone to introduce themselves.

The Executive Director explained that as Chair of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) she would provide an introduction to the partnership and then each strategic lead would discuss their priority.

She explained that it was a legal requirement to have a CSP and it had proved to be very beneficial in Watford. She outlined the role of the CSP and explained that the partnership met quarterly to review the performance and priorities. The Joint Action Group (JAG) had operational oversight of the work and the Antisocial Behaviour Action Group (ASBAG), which considered how to address antisocial behaviour issues, was particularly successful.

The Executive Director reported that the CSP had had a lot of success in 2011/12. Watford had had the highest detection rates in the county and crime was down 25 percent on the back of three years’ continuous improvement. The only statistic which was increasing was violent crime which had increased by eight percent.  For the first three months of this year, however, there had been a reduction of eight percent.

Chief Inspector Caveney reported that the Police in Watford had set targets to reduce burglary and vehicle crime by 20 percent. These were significant but realistic targets. The Police were focusing on identifying people who caused disproportionate problems and were using warrants and searches in known hot spots. The second priority for the Police was reducing the volume of theft from person and violent crime, a significant proportion of which took place in the town centre. They were also working with the Council to look at the culture of the town centre and how it could move forward.

The Executive Director gave apologies for Brian Gale from Hertfordshire County Council, who was the strategic lead on drugs and alcohol. She advised that there was a strong link between alcohol and violent crime and domestic violence. The CSP was working with the pubs and clubs through Pub Watch to address the problem. The Licensing Committee and the Police were also working well together. There was a new alcohol strategy for the County and arrest referrals were now being used.

The Executive Director suggested an item for the Task Group’s work programme. The CSP felt it would be useful to have some work done around domestic violence and the relationship with alcohol abuse. A piece of work had been carried out two to three years ago which contained some recommendations.

Councillor Aron asked why the levels of domestic violence might have increased. Chief Inspector Caveney responded that it may be a positive indication that reporting levels had increased as victims were more confident. The root cause of the increase could not be pin-pointed. He hoped that the Police’s more victim-focused approach was encouraging more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Task Group to discuss areas they would like to review in 2012/13. The rolling work programme which includes suggestions made in 2011/12 is attached for discussion. The action list which covers the Task Group’s work in 2011/12 is also attached.

Two scrutiny proposals have been received, one from Councillors Lynch and McLeod and one from Councillor Meerabux and these will be circulated prior to the meeting.

The Task Group received a report of the Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer including proposals from councillors.

The Chair noted that work on the thriving families would dovetail well with the proposed topic on drug and alcohol treatment. This could be a topic for February 2013 as this was a new initiative.

Councillor Khan suggested that drug and alcohol treatment was a topic that touched on a lot of areas.

It was agreed that at the next meeting the CSP’s suggested topic of domestic violence be considered as well as inviting Brian Gale to talk about drug and alcohol treatment.

Councillor McLeod suggested that this should include support for families. She said the task group needed to question if the need for drug and alcohol treatment in Watford was being fully met. She added that it would be helpful to hear from ex-service users.

Councillor Khan suggested that organisations such as the women’s centre be invited to give evidence on the domestic violence topic

The Chair urged the Task Group members to highlight any issues they came across during the year to him and the Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer on an ongoing basis

It was agreed to raise the question of housing issues with Brian Gale at Hertfordshire County Council.

ACTION- Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer to circulate information about SOVA and the Anne Frank project.

The following dates are available for the remaining meetings of the task group in 2012/13.

• Tuesday 2 October
• Tuesday 11 December
• Tuesday 19 February

Members are asked to agree  the dates and times.

Tuesday 2 October 6.30pm

Tuesday 11 December 6.30pm

A third date to be agreed